Alright
I think its been enough time to say this but it has been bothering me quite a lot.

John Peel played a load of old shit didnt he?

No one actually enjoyed that show did they? Wasnt it all just fucking noise? Just cos bands played on JP, didnt make them any good or special. It was all a bit emperors new clothes to me.

He seemed like an absolutely quality bloke, and loved what he did. But was it because he liked it that he was respected, not the actual music?
( I have run out of coke is a little sweaty, Fri 6 Mar 2009, 10:43, 30 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

Ahahahaha
Dead people are SHIT.

As for the above, I have no idea, I never listen to the radio, because it's for gays and car mechanics
( Bert Monkeysex is waiting for the mods to delete him, Fri 6 Mar 2009, 10:50, Reply)

Sometimes he did, sometimes not
He played stuff because it was new, rather than because it was necessarily good.

Many good bands did superb Peel sessions though.

Off the top of my head Napalm Death and the Jesus & Mary Chain both made great recordings for him.

I HAVE SPOKEN
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Fri 6 Mar 2009, 10:51, Reply)

I'm going to have to hunt you down and kill you for that I think. Sacrilege!
He played a lot of stuff I didn't like (I've never been that into the post punk and new wave stuff he loved), but I also discovered a fuck of a lot of my favourite music through that show. The breadth of his tastes was incredible. I challenge anyone to listen to one of the shows and not find a single track they like.

He was the first person to play reggae on national British radio.
He was the first person to play hip hop on national British radio.
He was the first person to play Welsh language music on national British radio.

(and probably a load of other firsts, those are the ones I'm aware of though)

One of my heroes. Listened to the Radio 1 show religiously for years, still have a massive cardboard box full of taped shows I've been meaning to record into the computer.

Met him very briefly once at Glastonbury and he was as lovely a chap as you'd expect.
(Son of Sam-i-am We're all as mad as hatters here, Fri 6 Mar 2009, 10:55, Reply)

Nah! I don't agree.
Without him I would never have come across Fish heads by Barnes & Barnes.

I used to listen to him late at night when I was a teenager tucked up in bed. Made me tired for school the next day but I wouldn't miss it.
( girlinthehole, Fri 6 Mar 2009, 10:57, Reply)

JPS
The Ruts and New Model Army JP sessions were fookin excellent!

I got them on Vinyl - can't say I ever listened to his radio show.
( SpikeyPickle wishes he was mabazaritchie, Fri 6 Mar 2009, 11:05, Reply)

He did play a lot of shit though
Personally, I have never seen the appeal of The Fall, but he loved them.

I was a bit young for John Peel, I used to reall like Mark and Lard when they were on late nights and Radio 1 was actually quite a good station rather than the mediocre shit fest it has been for the last ten or fifteen years.

Jo Wiley can just fuck off and die, the fucking worthless charisma vacuum that she is.
(Bazongaloid, Fri 6 Mar 2009, 11:36, Reply)

@BGB
Fish heads, fish heads, roly poly fish heads - did you ever see the episode of the Simpsons where Homer sings it?

The Fall have their moments.
(bazmorningstar efil4nat3b, Fri 6 Mar 2009, 11:42, Reply)

There was some crap
But the important thing was that he played it. That meant that new ideas, approaches, and bands got publicity. It's what public service broadcasting ought to be about.

You used to get the same with Mixing It on Radio 3 and - to a lesser extent - still do get on the Freak Zone on 6Music.

God, I miss Mixing It.
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Fri 6 Mar 2009, 12:02, Reply)

@IHROOC
You live under a bridge AICMFP.
(porkylips looks better as the sun goes down., Fri 6 Mar 2009, 12:17, Reply)

i dont know what that means
and i'm confused. i live in a house.
( I have run out of coke is a little sweaty, Fri 6 Mar 2009, 12:25, Reply)

a load of shit
OK he played some decent stuff I suppose, but no quality stuff like the recent bands, Snow patrol, Coldplay, Kaiser Chiefs etc. I mean, between them, they're probably the greatest bands of the last 30 years.
( I have run out of coke is a little sweaty, Fri 6 Mar 2009, 12:27, Reply)

I sincerely hope you are joking or trolling here....

(Son of Sam-i-am We're all as mad as hatters here, Fri 6 Mar 2009, 12:36, Reply)

If this wasn't the internet
I'd punch you, coke
( Bert Monkeysex is waiting for the mods to delete him, Fri 6 Mar 2009, 12:31, Reply)

Just being obtuse.
According to popular folklore trolls live under bridges. Just a little joke.
(porkylips looks better as the sun goes down., Fri 6 Mar 2009, 12:32, Reply)

@Baz
No I missed that.

There were a lot of music on his show that I didn't like but it was exciting being able to listen to stuff that would never have been played on other stations. I grew up listening to him and being introduced to new bands that I never would normally have come across.

This was late seventies/early eighties of course.
( girlinthehole, Fri 6 Mar 2009, 12:55, Reply)

Best Bands ever
U2
Coldplay
Nickleback
Kaiser Chiefs
Scouting for Girls
Limp Bizkit
Genesis (the late stuff not the early shit)
Pink Floyd - anything since 1991 really.
Red Hot Chilli Peppers (2004 onwards)
Tin Machine
Blink 182

thats probably it. Oh, maybe Wings.
( I have run out of coke is a little sweaty, Fri 6 Mar 2009, 12:58, Reply)

I'm with Sam
watch your back.
( cackers, Fri 6 Mar 2009, 12:59, Reply)

I am actually going to kill you!
I'm not joking now.

Post-1991 Floyd?!?

This HAS to be a wind up, nobody has a taste in music that's this shit.
(Son of Sam-i-am We're all as mad as hatters here, Fri 6 Mar 2009, 13:01, Reply)

I am sure
That 95% of the twats that jumped on the John Peel Legend bandwagon had never actually listened to a show.

I managed to listen to a few but not nearly enough to fully appreciate what he got upto. He got me into Frank Black and then the Pixies. But I do remember listening to a number of shows and thinking STOP PLAYING THE SHIT STUFF JOHNNY!
( whenanimalsattackhumans clad in global hypercolour, Fri 6 Mar 2009, 13:06, Reply)

Rises to bait - takes hook - pulls IHROOC into the river

Right. Peel is a legend and, as with most legends, most of what is said/remembered is false. I'm with BGB on this. Growing up in the late 70s, early 80s, Peel was a maverick, playing punk tracks that you could only hear otherwise on Captial Radio (anyone remember 'Little' Nicky Horne - 'Music your mother wouldn't like'?). Peel (and let's not forget the late, very great John Walters) listened to all of the tapes sent in to them - he deserves a medal for that alone - and gave bands a chance that otherwise wouldn't have had one.

What you kids don't realise is that the music business in the mid-70s was completely sewn up by the big labels and Radio One's playlist. Peel pulled against that closed door from the inside, while punk bands were kicking at it from the outside. Between them, they broke that fucker down and it's not been mended since.

Peel was a one-man YouTube - giving airtime to anyone with the balls to go for it and a spark of life. There is no 'shit' music - just music you like and music you don't. Peel played the 'music you don't' and stuck two fingers up at anyone that didn't like it.

I've read 'Margrave of the Marshes' and it's rubbish. The man himself had an easier life than he probably deserved, but fuck it! If I could spend my life being over-paid to do my favourite thing in the world with no come back and plenty of plaudits - I'd do it in a second.

I gave up listening to Peel when Hip Hop replaced Punk - he played edgy music for late teens/early 20s - we all moved on, he didn't. Don't knock him now because he can't answer back.

The end.
(Che Grimsdale Best before:, Fri 6 Mar 2009, 13:44, Reply)

fairly certain
that IHROOC is taking the piss with best bands list. and I applaud, because it gave me a laugh.

@ Che: agreed. I remember having to truly hunt for new music, and the moribund shite that was radio. still is, here in US. Peel did a lot of good, but wasn't infallible. he helped to make a change where one was needed. nice work, I say.
( cackers, Fri 6 Mar 2009, 14:01, Reply)

Youve all made my day
I love you. That was far too easy.

I mean pfft! Post 1991 Floyd. Everyone knows they peaked at Momentary lapse of reason.
( I have run out of coke is a little sweaty, Fri 6 Mar 2009, 14:06, Reply)

IHROOC is joking
But it did raise a rage-fueled grin ;)

Edit: Damn, he posted above me and made my comment redundant :/

Never listened to Peel in his prime, and I'm certain I'd miss out on any modern day equivalents as I never listen to the radio. I discover new music through Last.fm and through friends.
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Fri 6 Mar 2009, 14:06, Reply)

After reading IHROOC's best of music list.....

I think he's actually my ex-husband.


I just did a little sick in my mouth at the memory of it all.
( flirting with badgers What? It sounded good at the time., Fri 6 Mar 2009, 14:20, Reply)

Che
you are very naive if you think that there is some sort of burgeoning independent music scene going on, unaffected by the major labels.

Lots of underground bands may have broken through in the 70s, but it hasn't happened since. Despite what the labels will have you believe, nobody has been discovered through myspace. And nobody is playing new music on the radio. All these current "Indie" bands are nothing of the sort, they are generic shite carbon copies of things that have been done before.

I'm not knocking Peel, he did a lot for music, but he did play a lot of unlistenable stuff, but that's the price you pay for getting to hear all the new stuff that's out there, rather than the sanitised stuff that radio 1 wants you to hear.
(Bazongaloid, Fri 6 Mar 2009, 14:46, Reply)

Hi Al,

I'm sure you're right as usual(ish). I've never been on YouTube, so I wouldn't know. My Sprog was into music when she was at Leeds Uni and saw plenty of bands that she rated on the 'indie' circuit and found loads more via mySpace etc. She passed some on to me and I'd say there are plenty of interesting bands out there (Spinto Band, The Wrens, The Radio Dept. Weezer, Semifinalists, Death Cab for Cutie, The National, Peter Bjorn & John, Au Revoir Simone, Neauveau Vague, The Postal Service, Joanna Newsom, Kimya Dawson, Vampire Weekend, Mystery Jets etc. etc.) I've no idea how many of these have 'made it big' or if they are even still out there, as I only listen to R4 these days.

I'm not that bothered about 'newness' in music, only what's good and good to listen to (though Joanna Newsom is REALLY different). How different can you be with four guys, two guitars, drum & bass + keyboards perhaps? When Sprog was into Razorlight I introduced her to the Clash and she liked both. What goes around...

What hasn't changed - and never will - is that any band, once they've been discovered and make a bit of money will cease to be just local lads, but will become Rock Stars and so begins the inevitable decline. Yes: the big labels still run things and super-groups still pack the stadiums but there are plenty of little venues and student unions playing small bands every night of the week.

Good luck to the lot of them. I'm currently listening to Regina Speckter on me iPod - very nice.

Rant over - have a nice weekend guys 'n' gals.
(Che Grimsdale Best before:, Fri 6 Mar 2009, 15:20, Reply)

I'm not having any of this and refuse to read the replies..
..one person badmouthing JP is one person too many. I grew up with the guy and a lot of my record collection is what he played. I cried in the office where I worked on hearing of his death. Colleagues mocked me. It's no coincidence I walked out soon after.

RIP. Don't speak ill of the dead, especially when you're talking about someone so likeable as Peel, whatever you think of the music.
(raymond "three griddle pans" luxury yacht lovin' the christmas action, Fri 6 Mar 2009, 15:23, Reply)

The only Peel stuff I've ever heard
was very old Pink Floyd- he had them perform Atom Heart Mother Suite. He also had Syd Barrett post freak-out performing with David Gilmour. For those two performances alone I hold him in high esteem.

/geek mode
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Fri 6 Mar 2009, 15:25, Reply)

Atom Heart Mother
was my favourite album at age 2. Would ask my dad to play the one with the cow on the cover.

Syd, yes. All the best Floyd happened with him. A visionary. I blame the LSD, because saw the same happen around me. And the shit we were on wasn't half the strength of what must have been going round in his day... Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Ummagumma. Madcap Laughs. Indeed.

*Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun*
and *Careful With That Axe, Eugene*.

RIP Roger Barrett

*has got a bike, but you can't ride it. even if you like*

currently grooving with a pict. some will know what that means.
( cackers, Fri 6 Mar 2009, 23:04, Reply)

sitting on the fence
There were some classic recordings, fact. Fact on the internet, so, by default, this must be true.

Unfortunately, 90% of it was cack.
(knackerz is skinning up, Sun 8 Mar 2009, 3:05, Reply)